#Blaugust2016 – Day One of…Many?

Blaugust, for those who don’t know, is an August blogging initiative started by Belghast over at Tales of the Aggronaut. While the big goal has previously been to post a substantive post (or vlog) for each day of August, this year it’s focused on what the point of it all was supposed to be. Building community, and the benefits of regularly posting content on some sort of schedule. You can read his thoughts in more detail on his recent post, A Chill Blaugust.

I participated and…I hate to say “won.” I *completed* my Blaugust 2015 goal of posting each day. Those posts can be found here, under the #Blaugust2015 tag. I’m still rather proud of some of them.

Last year at this time, I’d been fairly good about blogging regularly but wanted a chance to try something different. I wanted to challenge myself not to wait for the “perfect” blog topic or the free time to make a “perfect” post. I wanted to put myself out there to meet others in the blogosphere. I wrote about my goals on Day Two, for anyone interested. I also wrote about a stray duck, because at the time I was working at my local humane society.

And here I am in 2016. I’ve nearly completely fallen off the blog (and livestreaming), and not coincidentally, went back to work in the retail management sphere. I still feel like if I’m going to blog it’s going to be a GOOD one, so I guess that lesson only stuck for so long. But hey, my brain is stubborn about some things. 😛 On the other hand, I’m still friends with so many people from last year, which is pretty amazing when you think about it.

I summed up my closing thoughts on Blaugust 2015 here: #Blaugust: Was This Worth It? There are also pictures of my cats and dog, because of course there are.

I’m not sure what I’m trying for this year in terms of a posting schedule. I wasn’t planning on participating at all until I read about the “Chill” theme this year. Last year, I legitimately valued the way daily posting made me worry less and write more. I also recognize that working retail management has always made me tired in a way other jobs don’t. I’ve said for years that the job is something I’m very good at…but it’s not always very good for me.

The goal I’m starting with is to do something related to my blog or videos each day. I would like if that’s something I can post…but some days, it might be behind-the-scenes. I’ve chosen not to “sign up” for daily content for that reason. That, and I know how stubborn I can get. I don’t want to burn myself out or neglect the rest of my life because I’m stuck on “winning.”

If you’re reading this, Belghast, thank you again. Both for organizing Blaugust and for choosing to give us more options in how we participate. Daily blogging *is* an awesome thing and helped me learn a lot last year…but I’m glad I can feel comfortable participating even if I don’t manage that this time.

Curious about #Blaugust? Visit the Blaugust Initiative page, and then head over to the Nook to see what everyone else is up to.